Larger than Life ~Prologue~

Eminence Serafin made sure her steps were stealthy as she sped across the kitchen counter with the food she so desperately needed. She had a four year old daughter counting on her. Going from a "stay-at-home" mom to a full blown borrower mom was a lot harder than she thought. She had been taught in the ways of the household with hopes of having a life with a caring husband. That was how her family started until tragedy struck and forced her to move with her family of now two instead of three. This had been her life for three years now. The borrowing had gotten easier and her daughter had grown from an infant to a toddler taking a minuscule amount of stress off her shoulders.

   The beans of their house had been away for three days now and the mother had just gone to the store earlier that day. Eminence grabbed a half bag full of cheerios but, she had to make her get away as the wailing of a child echoed through the house. She knew, from personal experience, that the mother would be coming to the kitchen next. They had come home with a newborn bean this morning. She was happy for her housemates as she reminisced of her daughter's first year of life.

   Reaching the edge of the counter, she jumped, unleashing a cloth parachute at the perfect moment. Her feet lightly landed on the ground and she hurried to put the parachute away as thunderous footsteps came from the hallway leading to the connecting family room. She sprinted to the closest china cabinet, diving for the cover of complete darkness it offered. The footsteps continued to get louder to the point where Eminence actually shook as she lay on her stomach.

   The bean opened the humongous cold box and pulled out a massive bottle that seemed to be around twice Eminence's full height. After taking the cap off and leaving it on the counter, she made her way back to the crying child. Soon after, the cries quieted down and Eminence knew the mother would be busy long enough for her to make it home to her own child. She came out of the darkness and scurried over to a grandfather clock in the family room. She had spent a lot of time rearranging its inner workings into her own makeshift elevator. The beans could never be bothered to try and get the ancient time piece to work. She rode the elevator to the top and crawled out onto the top of the clock.

   She opened the almost invisible door and made her way through the maze of passageways back to her home under the wrap-around front porch. She tip toed in and before she gave herself the chance to put away her borrowings, she made sure to go check on her little angel. She crept towards her daughter's room, only to find her sitting on the bed, wide awake.

   "Is the baby okay, Momma?" she asked.

   "He's just fine honey. He was just hungry. You used to do that too you know," Eminence said as she raised her hand to cradle her daughters sweet face that reminded her so much of her husband.

   "Nu-uh!" the four year old pouted, looking cute.

   "Alright honey. Whatever you say," Eminence said with a laugh. She knew that this was a battle she couldn't win, "I'm going to bed now. I'll see you in the morning, missy," she added as she rose from the bed.

   "Good night, Momma," her daughter said with a yawn. She lay down but, as her mother reached the door she sprang up like a coiled spring.

   "Momma? Can we go see the baby tomorrow? He's just a baby so he won't tell. Please, please, please?" she pleaded. Even at the tender age of four, she knew that being seen was a dangerous taboo.

   "I'll think about it and give you an answer in the morning," she replied. He daughter bounced in excitement before giving an energetic okay in response and lying down to finally fall asleep.

   Eminence made it back to the kitchen, finally putting the borrowings away before making her way to her own bed. She changed out of the borrowing uniform of a slip-on shirt and trousers and into her nightclothes. She lay down and was asleep as soon as she hit the pillow.

  Waking up the next morning, Eminence found the house strangely quiet. The bean's and her own house had this quiet blanketing them. Jumping from the bed, she quickly changed from her nightclothes and into her shirt and trousers, all while hopping towards the door. She made it out the door of her room and ran around, looking for her daughter.

   "Adriana! Adriana!" she called, trying not to panic. Bursting out their back door, she ran through the passageways of the bean's house searching for the four year old. She had seemingly searched every room in the house until she remembered their conversation the night before. Motherly instinct kicked in as the thought of her daughter in danger crossed her mind, so Eminence made it to the nursery in record time. Sitting on the changing table, with her chin on her knees, was Adriana. Still in her nightclothes and oblivious to her mother, she watched the crib in the center of the room.

   Eminence climbed up the side of the changing table and crept up beside her daughter. Adriana squealed in surprise as her mother sat down but, she escaped a scolding with the innocent smile on her face.

   "Momma, look," she whispered as she pointed to the crib. Eminence turned towards the center of the room and saw a beautiful baby boy. She saw ocean blue eyes and a soft bald head that only looked cute on a baby. He was looking towards the ceiling but, started looking around to take in all of his surroundings. As his eyes came closer to Adriana and her mother, Eminence tensed, mostly from habit. Adriana placed a hand on her mother's arm in comfort, "He's just a baby, Momma," she said with wisdom well past her years. His eyes found the two borrowers on the table, and a small smile graced his face.

   Eminence released a sigh of happiness as she smiled back. Her gaze dropped to the ground as she caught a small flicker of movement. She turned to see if her daughter might have seen what it was but, was greeted with empty space. Eminence leaned slightly over the edge of the table and found where her daughter had disappeared to. She was already climbing up the leg of the crib.

   Proportionally, borrowers are stronger than humans but, this single morning had shown that Adriana seemed to be even stronger and would have no problem with the challenges that came with being a borrower.

   Eminence rushed to follow her daughter and came over the edge of the crib to find her daughter right beside the human infant. She rushed to pull her four year old away from what her gut was calling danger but as soon as she was within reach, Adriana grabbed her hand and placed it on the thumb of the baby's hand.

   "He's so soft, Momma," she said with a wide grin. Eminence knew that a friendship was born in this moment, it was written all over her daughter's face. She wouldn't be able to stop it even if she tried. So, for the next two years, they came back and visited and played with the baby boy. As he showed signs of speech, Eminence grew nervous of their safety. It was all for nothing as he never said a word about their existence.

   Just before the boy turned two, things took a turn for the worse. The mother had cheated and was pregnant with another baby. The house would shake as the husband dealt what he saw as proper punishment. Eminence was forced to keep Adriana home and was even frightened about leaving herself. Borrowing had to be done strictly at night out of the fear that she would fall off the intricate ladders in the walls during one of his outbursts. For six months they lived like this.

   The visits with the young boy came to a halt. Adriana was deeply upset and had started to grow a deep dislike for the father bean. His problems with managing his anger had taken away the second most important person in her life. That dislike blossomed into hatred from all the events of one afternoon.

   It had been a Saturday in mid-spring, so the mother and son had decided to enjoy it in the front yard. Adriana was glued to the spot she sat in as she watched him play with a ball. He stopped and his face clearly said he thought of something. He got down on his hands and knees and started looking around in the grass.

   "Adi! Adi! Adi, where are you?" he called. Adriana drew up her knees and hugged them close so she wouldn't jump up to go play with him. She was the only person who knew it wasn't daddy he was looking for.

   "Daddy is inside, baby. I don't think he wants to come out and play," the mother told the boy.

   "Adi! Come out and play, Adi!" he yelled. He was never a demanding, spoiled child but in this he was persistent.

   "Shut the brat up! I can hear him over the game!" the father boomed from inside.

   "Adi! Adi! Come outside! Come-" he was stopped by a hand over his mouth.

   "You have to be quiet. Daddy doesn't want to come outside so he isn't going to." she explained as she rose from the ground. She made her way back to the porch just as her husband burst through the front door.

   "I thought I said to keep him quiet?" he sneered with an angry looking his face. He didn't wait for an answer before he slapped the mother so hard across the face; she spun and hit the ground. She wasn't even going to give an answer, she knew better. She would rather have to take 100 more beating than see him lay a hand on her son. He continued beating, kicking, and picking her up, just so he could knock her back down an again. After he seemed to have had enough, he simply turned and walked back into the house. That night, the mother gathered some clothes of theirs, stashed cash, and the things necessary for taking care of a two year old. She grabbed her son from his room and without even a turning glance, left and never came back.

   The husband turned to alcohol to fill the lost 'companionship'. The shopping trips became scarcer and things to borrow started to diminish. Life was even harder for the pair.

   Adriana and her mother lived like is for 17 more years, with no change in sight. What they didn't know was that a huge change had just pulled up the driveway in a sleek, black 2013 Hyundai genesis-coupe.